Batting

HICKORY, N.C. – Using a nine-run third inning and three home runs from righfielder Shawn Ward (Evans, Ga.), the No. 5 Georgia College baseball team (21-7) won at Lenoir-Rhyne University (7-25) 17-5 Wednesday afternoon. The victory stops a two-game non-conference slide for the Bobcats.

GC sent 12 hitters to the plate in the nine-run third, blowing open an already 3-0 lead for the Bobcats. Ward finished with a monster 4-for-6 day, driving in seven with three home runs and a single. He also scored four times.

In the third alone, GC got a two-run blast from Ward, a two-run double from first baseman Cody Maas (Alpharetta, Ga.) and a bases-loaded triple from centerfielder Patrick Daugherty (Kennesaw, Ga.).

The Bobcats split the game among four pitchers, with reliever Walker McKinven (Lake Bluff, Ill.) picking up the win while tossing the most innings. McKinven (1-1) went four frames, scattering five hits and a pair of runs while fanning four.

Lenoir-Rhyne starter Ryan Wiese (0-4) took the loss in two innings of work, allowing six runs. The Bear hitters were held in check for nearly the entire contest, as just two had multi-hit performances.

Maas finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs, with designated hitter Ikaika Anderson (Austell, Ga.) hitting 3-for-5 with three runs and an RBI from the leadoff spot. Leftfielder Josh Young (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.) got in on the hit parade, going 2-for-3 and scoring twice, and shortstop Tanner Funk (Kearney, Mo.) was 2-for-5 with a pair of runs and one driven in. GC had 17 runs on 17 hits.

The victory puts head coach Tom Carty into third place in all-time coaching wins in the GC dugout. He passed Chris Calciano to take the third slot with today's victory, Carty's 133rd.

The Bobcats are back in action Saturday, March 26 at 2 p.m., hosting USC Aiken for a doubleheader at John Kurtz Field.

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, back-to-back winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/BobcatSports and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.